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Comments

I love the new RL. Enough said.It is targeting the new M35, GS300, 525/530, and E320, A6. Those who said it is targeting LS, you must check your MSRP once again. LS is a floating device. Luxurious, but drives like a boat. Ever try 530 with sports package?

I hope let us get by the look, and discuss more on some of the details of RL. I, for one, has a question:- does it come with LED taillights? Can't tell for sure from picture, and does not mention it anywhere in the news.

Finally, I think the silver in photos does not do it justice. A deep blue or jet black would look really nice with the new 2005 RL. And, that is probably what I would order with beige interior.

I think its looks pretty darn good, not flashy but then Acura's never were sans the NSX. It's definitely more sport looking, muscular and rakish. Very nice subtle body details. Long live the wedge! I see some Benz bumper detailing, just a hint of 7 series rear detailing and some I35 frontish similarity. The front panels are Accord like in look in 3/4 view . Don't think the 20 shoes will make production. What we see here is 95% the final product. They really sweated the details on this on.

The inside is not going to disappoint, it looks rich and well executed. Materials should be top notch no surprises here. It's also going to have the latest smart key technology like the new revised LS430. Handling is going to be near class leading. This class is really going to get hot as the all new M35/45 and GS are set to launch.

"Its not really fair to compare this car to all of the 5 or E series."

I think Acura has to compare itself to any car that offers an equivalent V6 engine, even if it is sold for $10k more. Acura needs to make a bold statement if it wants to attract the higher end customers. If a person could afford to get a fully loaded E320, and saw the new RL, they should want to go with the RL not because of the money, but because that it looks great, and has the features of an SClass. I just think Acura needs to realize that looks are vital, and it needs to be bold to take some important market share.

I love the new RL. Enough said.It is targeting the new M35, GS300, 525/530, and E320, A6. Those who said it is targeting LS, you must check your MSRP once again. LS is a floating device. Luxurious, but drives like a boat. Ever try 530 with sports package?

I hope let us get by the look, and discuss more on some of the details of RL. I, for one, has a question:- does it come with LED taillights? Can't tell for sure from picture, and does not mention it anywhere in the news.

Finally, I think the silver in photos does not do it justice. A deep blue or jet black would look really nice with the new 2005 RL. And, that is probably what I would order with beige interior.

Let's say I don't care for speed.Let's say I just want that road isolation and quiet ride of a Lexus, but I just don't want to pay that extra $10K.

Could a V6 ride as smooth and quiet as a V8?For example, could a V6 ride as smooth, quiet, and road-isolated as the Lexus LS430?

Okay, I don't see how quietness has anything to do with engine size. But theoretically, could Acura have made the RL with a V6 to be as road-isolated and smooth riding as the LS430 and still costs $10K less?

Or how about a base model GX470 SUV which costs about the same as the RL? Could the RL be as smooth, quiet, and road-isolated as the GX470 SUV?

Again, this is assuming I just care about luxury, quiet, smooth, road-isolated, and not at all about performance or speed.

Varmint, did you address to the wrong person?I make no reference to about tire size sticker, which I knew about from other sites already. Why did you bring it up to me? The points?

Andrewtran71, again, the new RL is not about tranquility. Yes, it is the top-end of Acura, but who says the top-end of a brand name must be luxurious, not sporty? Honda, as a company is about 4X smaller than Toyota. It has no V8 to compete in that sesegment. I am glad Acura give that up until at least they have the IMA ready for big time.Why you described seems like ES330 to me. Trust me, 100lb insolation materials could make most good vehicle as quiet as any Lexus, but would I like it, NO. That is 100lb too heavy to me.

Complete isolation from road may be a good thing to some (you) but not to others (me). I want to feel some of it, thats why I care about driving. Otherwise I would be just as happy to take the bus to work or have someone else do the driving.

RL would be a great car if it offered the right mix of ride, features, performance (acceleration & handling), and for a reasonable price. I hope it doesn't carry a long list of options (thats something I hate to see in "luxury" cars, hey that was the idea to have luxury cars, right?).

On paper, RL appears to address that. Now, how it feels in person, we shall see. At this point, I'd imagine that RL to LS430 would be more like Accord to Camry. And you know which I would prefer.

Let's face it, for anyone thinking of buying in the RL "trade space" starting around September and going through about April, there are going to be quite a few VERY interesting and desirable choices. There will be a new STS, M35/45, GS300/430, and Audi A6, not to mention some others. Each offers lots of techo-goodies, so selection may be relegated to personal preference regarding styling, etc. At present, I own a 97 BMW 528/E39 (great car) which I had hoped to trade for a new E60; however, I was so turned off by its styling that I decided to wait to see what might show up for 05/06. I may keep my E39 (which runs great and look almost new with 105K on the clock), but if I don't, I am thankful that there appears to be a plethora of new models - each with outstanding attributes, to select from!

Well there goes the last bit of respect I had for Motortrend. Sorry but the TL is better than the CTS on so many levels its not funny. Just the 49 cent K-mart special interior alone is enough to make me walk right by the CTS. The STS looks like Cadillac designers took an SRX and just squashed it flat a bit. What a bore. And completely unsurprisingly, appears to have another low-rent interior. If GM ever expects that brand to get any respect vs. the imports they are just going to have to fire every single interior designer who currently works for the company.

The CR vs. C&D argument is also to be expected. The enthusiast mags only care about one thing, track results. They dont care what the inside looks like, or the available features, or reliability, or any kind of value. The fact that the '04 LS actually WON a C&D comparo was almost unbelievable. I've driven the G35 and its a great car, but I just couldnt live with all that plastic staring me in the face. The cup holder looks like it would break after about a week.

Interesting, I wasnt aware that the LS had ever won a C&D comparo before. I guess I've just seen the S class win so many that it became a blur after awhile. The torque steer is definitely an issue, a problem it shares with the Maxima. One of my good friends has a 93 Viggen though, and thats on a whole new level of torque steer. It should be called "torque yank the car off the road". The old Viggen actually had torque limiters in 1st and 2nd gear, and it was still horrible. What I'm hoping is that Acura will make an SH-AWD TL Type-S, though that may be a pipe dream until the next TL appears.

I take it you prefer to "feel the road" while driving like most Acura/Honda fans.In addition to my LS400 and Avalon, I also own a 2003 Honda Odyssey, by the way.So how come you're not "acuraguy" instead of "lexusguy"?

I always thought that people buy Acura just because it's cheaper than Lexus. But somehow I now realize that the reason people buy Acura is because they like the way the Acura vehicle feels. Nobody is wrong, just personal preferences. Gotta respect people for their own individualism.

I did personally THINK the 04 RL had the BEST looking front Dash of any sedans out there. The NAV screen was a little dim, but not too bad. But I wish they'd kept that great looking front dash of the 04 RL.

One interesting fact I read was that the 05 RL has genuine real woodtrim instead of the usual synthetic woodtrim. No big deal, but interesting.

tomorrow, i go to the show and see it in person.but after looking at the pics posted on acura's website, i think the design grew on me a bit more.

maybe i got it wrong, but some of the pictures make me wonder:1. the rear tail lights are a mix of LED & non-LED?2. the brakes that you see through the wheel design appear large, how much smaller can the wheels get?3. the big fat joystick nose in the console, is Acura going to provide us with their version of BMW's iDrive? (for the record, I love iDrive and think people are just nuts not to appreciate the fact that they have little control left over their own lives and technology, good and bad now completely drives our lives)... an Acura version might be gooood considering even the earliest of Acura's Nav systems were legions ahead others in their usability functionality.

4. Will it make me reconsider my 530i buy coming up this year end? likely.... I'm fairly dissapointed by the quality of a fairly new bmw in the family right now. it is the best car to drive, but finally, when you take the car out of the garage and it creaks and its got only 12K miles and less than one year life.. ya know that's not good.... and despite the controversial new shapes, i honestly like about 90% of the bangalized new bmw's... but again, back to acura, i think, the design is a tad too conservative, but its growing on me... lets see what I see tomorrow in person

If you go to the Acura.com website, they have a gallery of RL pics. Scroll through the thumbnails until you find one that is a close-up of the taillights. (Ksoman, it's probably the pic you just mentioned.) Click on it and take a close look.

Key point: Note that above the taillight there appears to be a flattened section of sheetmetal, forming a little ridge above the taillight and also on the trailing edge of the trunk. I like it. In all the other pics, the sheetmetal blends smoothly into the taillights (no ridge).

Do you think it's posible Acura still has some styling changes they are considering? There are pics that are blanked out on the site, which must provide clues about other features. This one might have slipped through.

How could anyone who admires Acura's styling call the new STS a bore? Before the TL debuted acura never made an attractive sedan. The new RL looks nice, but its no revolution in styling. It's about time that Acura started paying some attention to styling. The TL has a better interior than the CTS, but the CTS is RWD which will always give it an advantage in the magazines, plus its more distinctive looking and I think Cadillac's brand image is one step above Acura, and infiniti for that matter.

The STS' interior looks low rent? Compared to what? Also, its important to remember that unlike Acura, Cadillac has a common design theme amongst its vehicles, that could be one reason the STS looks like the SRX. Acura and Lexus do something different with each model.

Thank you again for the posts. I find that most of them do really bring up interesting points (although I would gladly do without some of the skirmishing a couple of posters seem to be wrapped in!). I wanted to reiterate my earlier comment on the new RL design. I mean this is not a groundbraking WOW type of look, but as others comment as well, I believe it will grow on us quite a bit. Again, I think this is the real styling strategy at Honda/Acura 'make the car look good not for 1, not for 5 but even for 20 years later (and classics are born!!). It just makes completely sense that a company that prides itself in building durable cars that are enviromentally friendly would not frenzy in giving the latest 'pret a porter' knowing it wold be out of fashion as soon as next season (personally I believe that will be the case of the new altima and numerous others)! Call it Honda's mantra or philosophy but it is one of the reasons I like these cars well knowing that they are most fun to drive. Finally let me touch again on the fact that at this point it is really imprtant to see how the SH-AWD feels. I am sure that this alone (ride characteristics) will make or break this model and the company strategy to avoid V8 engines to achieve those performance/gasoline consume/ emission goals that in an age of appalling corporate culture Honda continues to beckon to the rest of the automotive world. Well I better stop the praise (hopefully not an eulogy) here and just partake to the the RL style discussion by offering the following link:http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosinsider/0404/09/autos-115975.htm

and it is growing on me BIGTIME. They have a gorgeous gold one on display at NY and it looks very sleek. The pictures I've seen up to this point don't do this car justice. Another site I visit has a nice digital collection of all the NY cars in large digital format (autospies) and believe me it makes a difference. Here are the pics in case you haven't seen them (click on the thumbnails to get them supersized)-- I was impressed at how nice this car looks:

I think this will be one of those cars that has to be seen in person to get a real feel for if you like it or not. I just wish I could find pics of a light interior color -- I don't like black interiors at all.

Again, you're wrong as usual. Acura does have a design theme started with the TSX. The front grill and rear door look awfully similar, right?

"but the CTS is RWD which will always give it an advantage in the magazines, plus its more distinctive looking and I think Cadillac's brand image is one step above Acura, and infiniti for that matter."

Not always an advantage. Car & Driver didn't test the CTS because it was priced above the TL. Also, Cadillac's brand image isn't ahead of Infiniti. Have you looked lately? You're overexaggerating once again.

"How could anyone who admires Acura's styling call the new STS a bore?"

People have different tastes, duh!

"The STS' interior looks low rent? Compared to what? Also, its important to remember that unlike Acura, Cadillac has a common design theme amongst its vehicles, that could be one reason the STS looks like the SRX. Acura and Lexus do something different with each model."

The STS' interior isn't low rent, just uninspired. And who cars that Acura and Lexus do something different with each model? They still sell don't they!?! Again, there goes your biased opinion against imports.

Whenever I pop into the Future Vehicles board and see the number of new posts in this discussion, I'm thinking, "uh oh. flame war." But, thanks for not making this discussion a horror story and staying largely on-topic!

Let's just keep it that way and try not to take things personally.

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